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True to the title, this autobiographical fantasia by writer-director Alejandro Jodorowsky (El Topo), based on his youth and early adulthood in Chile during the 1940s and '50s, feels interminable. As usual Jodorowsky presents one over-the-top idea after another, until the film feels belabored and tiresome. The actress playing the hero's mother sings every line in an operatic soprano, the action is frequently interrupted by parades or circus performances, and multiple characters are played by dwarves. The film certainly looks good, thanks to Christopher Doyle's rich cinematography and the colorful mise-en-scene, and Jodorowsky shows greater sensitivity in his characterizations than ever before. (Adán Jodorowsky, his son, is particularly sweet as the protagonist.) But if you consider Jodorowsky's work excessive and mannered, you'll probably find this to be a slog. In Spanish with subtitles.
ByBen Sachs